Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (b. April 30, 1980) is a power forward/center with the Houston Rockets. The 6'9" player was a Euroleague star with the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto TAU Cerámica. He has dual citizenship: Argentine and Spanish. Latest News *Luis Scola had a third consecutive game on November 18 as the Rockets' most reliable shooter, making 6 of 12 shots for 15 points. "http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3653/news;_ylt=AkZJ3oBo7AaeqvJxtK6hQN7DPKB4", Yahoo Sports. November 20, 2008. __TOC__ Professional career Argentina Scola started his career with the Buenos Aires youth teams of Ferro Carril Oeste. He made his professional debut with the same club's pro team in the Liga Nacional de Argentine League during the 1996-97 season. Spain Cabitel Gijón After the 1997-98 basketball season in the Argentine League, Scola moved to Spain where he helped the then Spanish League Second Division club Cabitel Gijón achieve promotion to the Spanish League First Division. He then signed with TAU Cerámica, but stayed with Gijón through the 1999-2000 season, before moving to TAU, where he played for seven seasons. TAU Cerámica With TAU, Scola reached the Euroleague final in the 2000-01 season and three consecutive Euroleague Final Fours between 2005 and 2007. His outstanding performances earned him an All-Euroleague Second Team selection in 2005, as well as two All-Euroleague First Team selections in 2006 and 2007. Although Scola did not manage to win the Euroleague championship with TAU, he did win with TAU every major Spanish League title, winning a Spanish ACB League championship in 2002, 3 Spanish Cups in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 3 Spanish Super Cups in 2005, 2006, 2007. When he left TAU he was the Euroleague's all-time leading scorer. He was later surpassed in career points scored in the Euroleague by Marcus Brown. NBA career In the summer of 2005, the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA (who drafted Scola in 2002) attempted to negotiate with TAU to buy out his contract. After initially throwing around numbers as large as $1.5 million, TAU eventually settled on a still higher number of over 3 million dollars for the contract. This made it difficult for Scola to join fellow Argentina national team member Manu Ginobili in San Antonio because of the NBA's rule which limits teams to paying no more than $500,000 of a player's buyout. Scola would have been responsible for paying TAU the remaining $2.5 million. When the deal to buy out Scola's contract fell through, the Spurs instead signed an Argentine National Team teammate and friend of Scola's Fabricio Oberto. On July 12, 2007, the Spurs traded the rights for Scola along with center-forward Jackie Butler to the Houston Rockets in return for Vassilis Spanoulis, a future second-round pick, and cash considerations. He signed with the Rockets soon after and his sticky buyout situation was resolved a few days later. Scola signed a three-year contract with the Rockets, and will be paid $9.5 million over the duration of his contract. Scola placed third in the NBA 2007-08 Rookie of the Year Award voting and he was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. As a member of the Argentina National Team Scola has won numerous medals. With his national team he won the gold medal at the 2001 FIBA Americas Championship, the silver medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament,the silver medal at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, and the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament. Titles Club level *1 Liga ACB – Spanish League Championship, with TAU Vitoria (2002) *3 Copas del Rey – Spanish Cup Championships (2002, 2004, 2006), with TAU Vitoria *3 Spanish Supercopas - Spanish Supercup Championships, with TAU Vitoria (2005, 2006, 2007) Argentine national team *1999 FIBA Americas Championship Bronze Medal *2001 FIBA Americas Championship Gold Medal *2002 FIBA World Championship Silver Medal *2003 FIBA Americas Championship Silver Medal *2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament Gold Medal *2007 FIBA Americas Championship Silver Medal *2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament Bronze Medal Awards Club level *Spanish League Rookie of the Year 2000 *Spanish Supercopa MVP 2005 *All-Euroleague Second Team - 2004-05 *Spanish League MVP 2004-05 *2-time All-Euroleague First Team - 2005-06, 2006-07 *Spanish League MVP 2006-07 *NBA All-Rookie First Team 2007-08 Argentine national team *2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament All-Tournament Team *2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament Finals MVP *2007 FIBA Americas Championship MVP External links *Euroleague.net profile *Scola at NBA.com * ESPN Deportes interview *ClutchFans.net Luis Scola profile - Houston Rocket Fan Site Sources Category:Houston Rockets 2008 players Category:Houston Rockets players